Antivirus software is ‘increasingly useless’ and may make your computer less safe

How to protect your data and devices in the post-antivirus age

Is your antivirus protecting your computer or making it more hackable?

Internet security experts are warning that anti-malware technology is becoming less and less effective at protecting your data and devices, and there’s evidence that security software can sometimes even make your computer more vulnerable to security breaches.

It’s not the only instance of security software potentially making your computer less safe.

Concordia University professor Mohammad Mannan and his PhD student Xavier de Carné de Carnavalet recently presented research on antivirus and parental control software packages, including popular brands like AVG, Kaspersky and BitDefender, that bypass some security features built into internet browsers to verify whether sites are safe or not in order to be able to scan encrypted connections for potential threats. In theory, they should make up for it with their own content verification systems.